In 1815, the African-American Quaker and maritime entrepreneur Paul Cuffee financed and captained a voyage to Sierra Leone, where he helped a small group of African-American immigrants establish a colony on African soil. The success of Cuffee’s venture led to the founding, in 1817, of the American Colonization Society, with the mission of relocating freeborn and emancipated blacks to Africa. In 1822, the society established its first settlement near what is now Monrovia, Liberia. In the 1820s, colonization societies were formed in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and other U.S ...